police or fbi- missing 12 yr old

Missing is police. Kidnapping is FBI. If it's a decade old, only one guy, the one obsessed with the case from the local PD, is going to be looking. And that's on top of regular duties.

Nobody ever gives up. Cold cases are routinely worked and considered in any current cases. But without any evidence, and with any people involved moving on, the probability goes way down.

What do you need for your story?

Jeff

Dependent upon your time frame (and the era of your story), the FBI would have become involved (at least for comparative case analysis) as soon as the original investigating jurisdiction realized they had a serial killer on their hands and filed a ViCAP report/request with the FBI. Any contemporaneous case/investigation opened in the same jurisdiction would be subject to heavy scrutiny for any sort of link to the serial killer cases. ViCAP also includes missing persons.

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap

Federal involvement can and typically does commence upon request by the original case agency, or if there is reason to believe a missing person/potential kidnap victim has been brought across state lines, or a national security interest exists, etc. A reason usually isn't too hard to find... Remember, there is no statute of limitations on murder.

What does your story need?

Collin123 said:

I'd like to keep it where I'm just dealing with cops, but if feds get involved, I'm Wondering how many and for how long.

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Why are Feds getting involved? Oh yeah, because you're writing them in. Simple solution -- Don't write them in.

The FBI investigates on certain types of crimes. They don't get involved in local stuff, though they can always be consulted. FBI deals with Federal cases and Federal crimes.

Serial killers are one of their types of investigations and every local jurisdiction will call them in for help if they suspect one. The FBI has the data, background and resources to investigate these. But your child is simply a run-away as far as your description goes.

The FBI would already be working the serial killer case and, as part of that, monitoring any disappearances in the area. But they would be working to a profile and the missing kid would just be data entered into their systems unless they have a reason to expect otherwise.

At any rate, you can write the story from the local agency's perspective, bringing in the FBI as it fits your story. Without knowing the story, nobody can give you any specific answers to your questions.

Again, what do you need to happen for your story to work?

Jeff

It has been my professional experience that the FBI does not step in on most kidnappings. They offer resources such as making sure information is shared to other police agencies and crime lab analysis. But that resource sharing is via phone calls and emails to FBI support staff not special agents.

Collin123 said:

Thanks for the reply. Any idea how many feds would come to investigate and how long before they gave up/went home?

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If their involvement goes beyond analysis/support, the number of agents involved will vary as circumstances warrant. There may be one agent assigned as state/local liaison, and any number of two-person agent teams to do investigative interviews/interrogations. It is all driven by existing circumstances - those details you need to flesh out your story.

No one gives up even after the victim is located; the investigation continues until it goes to court. A case can remain open indefinitely.